Fordham Rowing continued its fall season with its second competition of the year at the 55th annual Head Of The Charles Regatta on the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass. The Rams took to the water on Saturday, Oct. 19, amidst a crowded field of talented competition. The hopes for Fordham were not solely on the results, but on improvement as a team, and they would receive a little bit of both.

Beginning on Saturday afternoon was the Women’s Club Fours team of junior Gabriella Guglielmi, Emily Buccholz, Caitlin Boyle and Danielle Moynihan with a 39th place finish of the 55 teams in the field, posting a time of 20:50.889. It was an admirable performance from the fours team that they will look to build upon in the coming weeks. Just under an hour later was the Women’s Club Eights team of seniors Brikena Prendaj, Danae Ohresser-Joumard and Erika Selakowski, juniors Aleksa Bjornson, Sophia Singh and Stephanie Daley, sophomore Lizzie Kerrigan and graduate student Erin Stepka, while commanded in the front by sophomore Alex Levy as the coxswain.

The team was feeling prepared coming into the race, with Stepka elaborating, “For the last part of our warm up before the race we did 20 strokes at race pace and it was perfectly set and it felt like everyone was in sync.” Stepka continued, “I was totally confident going into our race,” and it showed in the boat’s performance on the water. Amongst the 31-team field, the Rams secured a 14th place finish, clocking in at 17:50.494. Stepka was ecstatic about the team’s performance, feeling as if “our boat finally clicked” and that “it was the best our boat has felt this season.” It was a strong showing for the eights team and appears to be a sign of positive finishes to follow throughout the fall season.

The level of competition at the Head Of The Charles is one of the highest the Rams will face this year, as teams from across the nation come to compete at this annual tournament. As a result, it was certainly a great challenge this past weekend, one that can only act as a motivator and source of inspiration for the team moving forward. In the early portion of the season against a tough field in Massachusetts, Fordham Rowing produced a successful weekend tournament that will act as yet another learning experience for the team as they move further into this season.

The Rams will be back in action this Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Head of the Schuykill in Philadelphia, Pa.